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// Oh, Sparklesnap! 
// Story: Tales of Another Ponyville 
// by Paradise Oasis 
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"Hey, Sparklesnap! Hurry up and get that string of lights working!" Her voice yelled out in annoyance. "We got seven more strings to put up on the next three streets, you know!" 

Okay, gotta get bulbs two and seventeen screwed into the light string. And I gotta watch bulb twenty-three, if that one burns out, the whole string is going to go kablooey. Stringing these lights up all over Ponyville is a major pain in the flank, to say nothing of all the other electrical work we have to do before the night's out. 

"Hold on, Sparkleworks! I need to make a few more adjustments over here." I call out to my sister with a sigh. "Just let me make sure this light string is pulled tightly around this pole, and-"

"Awww, you're taking too long!" She yelled angrily, climbing up the ladder on the other side of the pole, and grabbing the light string with her hooves. "Here, let me help you, then we'll get done faster!"

"No Sparkle, wait!" I call out to her in vain, raising a hoof towards the other side of the pole. "You can't just-"

Bzzzapt! Sparks showered out everywhere, as my idiot of a sister pulled a half's hours worth of work with that damned light string down off the pole... and knocked out three strings of lights going down the block. 

"Ooops, guess I shouldn't have pulled on that light string so hard!" Sparkleworks said with a giggle. "Here, why don't you get these light working again, sis, while I go and get the light for the next street up?"

"Yeah, sure... you go do that, Sparkleworks." I grumble at her through clenched teeth. "I'll take care of things here, don't worry about it." 

"You got it, Snap!" She called back, already off of the ladder, and galloping up the street. "See you in an hour or so!" 

Yeah, that's right, Sparkleworks. Make a giant mess with your careless stupidity, and leave the yellow mare with the pink and white mane to clean up your mess. I've been cleaning up after you for most of my life, and it seems I'm doomed to mend your screw-ups until the day I'm headed for the glue factory. 

It's nothing new for me, of course. I've been picking up after little miss over-achiever since we were fillies, all the while living in the shadow of her 'glorious greatness'. I'd make a nice little sculpture in arts and crafts class in first grade, and she'd bring home a whole set of sculptures she made in kindergarten... hogging all of our parent's praise and attention, while I sat in the corner and sulked. I'd come in second place in the Ponyville junior high spelling bee, and she'd get all the attention for her volcano she made for the science fair that exploded. And the day of my prom, when I was wearing my new blue tiara and mane ribbons? Guess who all the colts paid attention to in her sultry little dress? 

It got even worse when we grew up, and both discovered our special talents were electrical and repair work. You think it would be fun, working on projects with your sister, right? Well, how would you like it if you were the one doing all the work, and your sibling was the one getting all the credit and praise? With Sparkleworks, it always either go big, or go home. And everything I do always looks feeble by comparison next to her stupid spectacles!  I fix the gears on the Ferris wheel, and Ponyville is too busy fawning over her repairing the merry go round and making it go faster to pay attention. I install electricity and heat into Kimono's cave, and everybody but Kimono is too busy celebrating the strobe lights she installed in Celebration Castle's ballroom to notice. 

"Hey, Sparklesnap! How's it going?" A friendly voice called out to me from the ground. "What're you doing up there, putting up this year's holiday lights?"

"Oh, hello Skywishes." I mutter, trying to keep my attention on putting the light string back up. "Yeah, I'm just trying to fix the decorations my sister so carelessly knocked down."

Skywishes, the mare whose wishes always seem to mysteriously come true. She's one of the few sickeningly friendly ponies in this town who doesn't get on my nerves, so I can at least get along with her reasonably well. Although she comes off as totally nice and sweet, don't let that facade fool you. This clever little pony uses her wishing ability to get everything she wants; from the best service at all of Ponyville's stores, to having that boyfriend of hers, Bee Bop, wrapped around her hoof by granting his every little wish.  I admire this devious little mare's cunning, pretending to be all sweet and naive to fool the town into thinking she doesn't realize the power her wish-granting ability gives her.

Or maybe, that just my own bitterness and paranoia making a lot of assumptions.

"Oh dear, Spaklesnap! You sound really unhappy!" She tells me, a look of concern on her face, as she looks up the ladder towards me. "Hey, I know! I could wish an extra special wish for you!"

"That's very sweet of you, Skywishes. But the only wish I would ask for would seem selfish and cruel." I shake my head sadly. "I would love, just for once, to show that snooty sister of mine up. To make all of Ponyville see me for what I can do, rather than always being stuck in my dear little sister's shadow!"

"That's not a very selfish wish at all, Sparklesnap. And I really hope you can make your wish to be noticed come true." Skywishes said sadly. "But I've gotta be going now, I'm supposed to meet Bee Bop so we can... so we can... oh, you know what I mean!"

"I do, Skywishes." Oh, I know what they're going to do, all right -thabunk thabunk thabunk-! Wish my boyfirend was that energetic. "You better get going, and I'll finish up things here!"

As Skywishes trotted away. I came down the ladder, and plugged all of the lights I had put back up into the light pole. But when I flipped the switch on the light string to turn them on, I discover my sister's rough handling of the light strings had a bad side effect.

POP! KRISH! POP! KRISH! POP! KRISH! POP! KRISH! POP! KRISH! POP! KRISH! The light bulbs exploded one by one, going right down the chain.

"Damn you, Sparkleworks! Do you have to flank everything up!?" I scream to the heavens in despair. "Ohhh, Sparklesnap! Now I have to do this all over again!"